How do I make SP game tougher??

[Tough Guy]

I am a newbie having just finished my second game at the hardest level. There was very little challenge as some species never left their own system.

What can I do to make it harder? Is that what mods are for? Are there mods for making single player games more competitive??

TG

[Slick]

Try the TDM modpack. It has modified the stock AI to be much tougher and adds lots of new hard races. The rest of the game is not modified by this mod. I play it all the time.

Slick.

[Krsqk]

Un-modded game:

1)Play with races from the TDM-Modpack.
2)Give the AI high bonus, high difficulty. Make sure you've patched to v1.84, as it fixes a bug with AI bonus resource use.
3)Give the AI 5000 racial points, but use 0 or 2000 for yourself. Require that you use at least one advanced trait as well.
4)Take Bloodthirsty or Neutral as a happiness type.
5)Don't use mines.
6)Play with the Only Colonize Own Planet Type and Only Colonize Breathable Planets options checked.
7)Play with large Mid-Life quadrant, deselect All Warp Points Connected, and only include 5-6 AI players.
8)Don't include neutral races. They never leave their home system, and serve only as snacks for real empires.
9)Provide arbitrary limits for yourself, such as not using stellar manipulation, not using phased weapons, not colonizing in AI-populated systems, etc.

Modded game:

1)Download the Pirates and Nomads mod (latest Version 3.1b). Play as either a Pirate or Nomad race.
2)Download the latest Devnullmod (v1.70?) and include the Space Monsters in your games.
3)Play the Proportions mod, especially with All Warp Points Connected turned off. By the time you find the AI, they'll have a roaring empire.
4)Create your own mod! Change what you like, cut back what's too powerful, beef up the weaklings, come up with all-new stuff, borrow from other mods, and post what you find for us all to enjoy!

[Rollo]

Originally posted by Krsqk:
Un-modded game:

1)Play with races from the TDM-Modpack.
2)Give the AI high bonus, high difficulty. Make sure you've patched to v1.84, as it fixes a bug with AI bonus resource use.
3)Give the AI 5000 racial points, but use 0 or 2000 for yourself. Require that you use at least one advanced trait as well.
4)Take Bloodthirsty or Neutral as a happiness type.
5)Don't use mines.
6)Play with the Only Colonize Own Planet Type and Only Colonize Breathable Planets options checked.
7)Play with large Mid-Life quadrant, deselect All Warp Points Connected, and only include 5-6 AI players.
8)Don't include neutral races. They never leave their home system, and serve only as snacks for real empires.
9)Provide arbitrary limits for yourself, such as not using stellar manipulation, not using phased weapons, not colonizing in AI-populated systems, etc.

Modded game:

1)Download the Pirates and Nomads mod (latest Version 3.1b). Play as either a Pirate or Nomad race.
2)Download the latest Devnullmod (v1.70?) and include the Space Monsters in your games.
3)Play the Proportions mod, especially with All Warp Points Connected turned off. By the time you find the AI, they'll have a roaring empire.
4)Create your own mod! Change what you like, cut back what's too powerful, beef up the weaklings, come up with all-new stuff, borrow from other mods, and post what you find for us all to enjoy!

Good suggestions. Personally I don't like arbitrary restrictions like using less race points for yourself or not using mines. But that's just me .

Two things that really make a differnce IMO are also:
10) Use team mode AI vs. human. The AI will all be allied and declare war on you. Take on 3 TDM races in a small quardrant
11) Use simulataneous movement.

and yeah, if you like DevnullMod: use the Space Monsters .

Rollo

[Gryphin]

Play with one hand tied behind your back. Limit yourself to:
Do not trade with the AI
Do not use Training Facilites
Colonize only one planet type
Don't glass planets, Only invade. This is much harder, (and humaine)
There are a few other self imposed limits that help ballence the play

[Puke]

Originally posted by Krsqk:

6)Play with the Only Colonize Own Planet Type and Only Colonize Breathable Planets options checked.
7)Play with large Mid-Life quadrant, deselect All Warp Points Connected, and only include 5-6 AI players.

these are actually bad suggestions, in my oppinion. they will hurt the AI far more than they will hurt you. the AI can survive in a no-warp-point game, but you can adapt to it much more than they can. the same with clolnize own atmosphere / type. the AI will have a harder time addapting.

also, if you are giving the AI a high bonus, you will get more of a challenge playing in a small quadrant. their bonus will come into play quickly, and you will not be able to out-expand them to off set the bonus, because of the limited space in the quadrant.

for a harder game against the AI, go for a small quad.

[BBegemott]

Play the game not using the 'Load Game' option. You'll become more careful in simultaneous games.

[capnq]

Play the game not using the 'Load Game' option.

That's way too cryptic for newbie advice. I'm not even certain what you're referring to, myself.

[Puke]

i think he is saying that you should not save every turn, and load an old savegame if you make a mistake.

also, play simultanious games in single player. restrict yourself to strategic combat, only. learn how stratagies work, and dont.

[BBegemott]

I mean try beating AI NOT loading your turns. It is quite hard to resist temptation to load a game when your fleet of 25 ships encounters a minefeeld